JAZZ TRUMPETER TAKES 3 S.D. MUSIC AWARDS

The Silent Comedy also big winners at event, which had been postponed due to weather

San Diego 
Nationally acclaimed jazz trumpet dynamo Gilbert Castellanos and the ebullient Americana band The Silent Comedy were the biggest winners at the 23rd annual San Diego Music Awards on Wednesday.

Castellanos, a driving force of the jazz scene here, won top honors in three categories during the ceremony at Humphreys Concerts by the Bay. His wins included Artist of the Year, Best Jazz Album and Best Jazz.

It was the first time in the nearly quarter-century history of the awards that a jazz performer was voted Artist of the Year. This year’s other nominees in that category included Pinback, Little Hurricane, Wavves, Family Wagon and three winners in other categories: The Burning of Rome (Album of the Year); The Heavy Guilt (Best Alternative); and The Silent Comedy (Song of the Year and Best Pop).

The event’s original Oct. 9 date was postponed a week because of heavy rains and unseasonable cold last week.

Other victors in the 28 categories included Gayle Skidmore (Best Singer-Songwriter), Sara Petite (Best Americana), The Creepy Creeps (Best Live Performer) and The Lyrical Groove (Best Hip-Hop). San Diego jazz patriarch Daniel Jackson was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by piano great Mike Wofford, the recipient of last year’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The two performed “The Smile of a Child,” a Jackson original, with former Miles Davis/Roberta Flack bassist Marshall Hawkins.

A sold-out crowd of 1,344 attended the awards fete, which also featured performances by Petite, Tristan Prettyman, Blackout Party, The Palace Ballroom and Sara Watkins (a Grammy Award winner for her work with neo-bluegrass trio Nickel Creek). The Heavy Guilt, which had been scheduled to perform at the Oct. 9 date, was unable to appear last night because of a prior touring commitment. They were replaced by Old Tiger.

The awards are organized and presented by the nonprofit San Diego Music Foundation. Proceeds go to the foundation’s Guitars for Schools program, which since 1991 has provided 2,000-plus guitars to more than 70 San Diego County schools. To date, an estimated 45,000 students have had the opportunity to learn to play guitar, according to Marjy Taylor, the foundation’s executive director.

For a complete list of this year’s winners and more coverage of last night’s event, go to: utsandiego.com/news/entertainment/music/